Hold My Hand
by LindsayC173
Summary: Just another fic about the next generation kids, because I love them. Mostly a happy, friendship story to begin with, maybe more angsty later on, with various pairings and asexual (but not aromantic) Rose. And Harry being a wonderful father, of course, because no one in their right mind would expect him to be anything else ... *cough*CursedChild*cough*
1. Chapter 1

_Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp and golden as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road towards the great, sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cases rattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the red-headed girl trailed tearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm._

…

' _Look who it is.'_

 _Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasised the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly and turned away again._

' _So that's little Scorpius,' said Ron under his breath. 'Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains.'_

' _Ron, for heaven's sake,' said Hermione, half-stern, half-amused. 'Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!'_

' _You're right, sorry,' said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, 'don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pure-blood.'_

…

' _Albus Severus,' Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, 'you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew.'_

' _But just say—'_

'— _then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account.'_

' _Really?'_

' _It did for me,' said Harry._

…

' _He'll be all right,' murmured Ginny._

 _As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absent-mindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead._

' _I know he will.'_

 _The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well._

 **Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, p603-607**

* * *

Albus waved furiously out of the train window until the platform was far out of sight. His stomach churned with excitement, but tears sprung to his eyes. He blinked them away. He _wouldn't_ cry. He was sure _James_ hadn't cried last year when he went off to Hogwarts for the first time. Just because he wasn't going to see his parents until Christmas—

'Come on then,' Rose said, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the window.

'Come on where?' he asked, confused but grateful for the distraction. Rose slid the compartment door open and dragged him out into the corridor.

'We need to find Scorpius Malfoy.'

'Okay. Why?'

Rose slowed down to edge past the Trolley Lady and gave him that look that told him she thought he was asking stupid questions.

'So we can be friends with him, of course.'

'Great.' Albus handed over a couple of sickles in exchange for a handful of chocolate frogs. He thought of the nervous-looking boy Uncle Ron had pointed out earlier. After everyone else had moved on to talking about Teddy and Victoire, Albus had met Scorpius' eyes across the platform, and they'd exchanged a smile. 'Not that I mind, but why do we want to be friends with him?'

'Because Dad told us not to.'

'I'm pretty sure he just told you not to marry him,' Albus replied, but Rose was already marching ahead, weaving in and out of other students. Accustomed to Rose's strange logic, Albus hurried to catch up with her, then almost ran into her as she stopped abruptly in front of a compartment door.

'Hi!' she said brightly, sliding it open and smiling at the pale, blonde-haired boy who was its only occupant, 'I'm Rose Granger-Weasley and this is my cousin, Albus. Do you mind if we sit with you?'

'Go ahead.' Scorpius gestured for them to sit down, then grinned shyly at Albus.

'Chocolate frog?' Albus offered, holding one out. Scorpius took it and ripped it open. He looked at the card and then smiled wryly.

'I got your dad,' he said, holding it out.

'Keep it,' said Albus, rolling his eyes. 'We've got hundreds of them. One time, for April Fool's Day, my mum and my uncle George collected about a thousand and papered the whole house with them. Dad tried to vanish them but they just kept multiplying until we eventually had to get rid of them all by hand. I still find them sometimes, down the side of sofa cushions or underneath things. I could probably recite Dad's achievements in my sleep.'

Scorpius laughed.

'Who've you got?' he asked. Albus opened his chocolate frog packet. The frog slipped through his fingers and leapt towards the window, but Scorpius' hand shot out and grabbed it.

'Quick reflexes,' Rose said, impressed. Scorpius blushed.

'Dad's always saying I'd be a great seeker. I think he's exaggerating though.' He held the frog out to Albus. 'Here.'

'Thanks.' Albus popped the frog in his mouth and turned over his card. 'Salazar Slytherin.' He grimaced. 'Do you reckon that's some sort of omen?'

'Don't listen to James, he's an idiot,' Rose said, patting his hand, 'You won't be in Slytherin.'

'Why don't you want to be in Slytherin?' Scorpius asked, and Albus realised how tactless he was being. Scorpius was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were always in Slytherin. He stared at his hands, trying frantically to come up with an answer that didn't sound horribly prejudiced. It wasn't that he didn't like Slytherins. He didn't really _know_ any Slytherins. He thought of his father's words about Severus Snape. _Bravest man I ever knew._ Albus was sure Snape had been very brave, but he wasn't exactly someone you aspired to be like. Miserable and heartbroken and living a double life without friends or family, only really appreciated by anyone after his death. And then there was Regulus Black, also a double-crosser and an unsung hero. And those were the good Slytherins. Voldemort, Dolores Umbridge, Bellatrix Lestrange … all the worst people from his dad's stories had been Slytherins, and all of them had come to terrible ends. He supposed Teddy's grandmother was nice enough, but she was obviously the exception.

'…and almost all of our family are in Gryffindor,' Rose was telling Scorpius, 'There's a lot of pressure to carry on the legacy. Teddy's in Hufflepuff, but he's not technically family, and Fred's in Ravenclaw, but none of us have ever been sorted into Slytherin. I think Al's just worried that—'

'It's not that,' said Al, interrupting, 'I don't mind being different. It's just that I want to do something meaningful with my life – something great – and I've never actually heard of any Slytherins who've done any proper good for the world, or at least not without doing something bad too. No offense.'

He glanced at Scorpius, worried that he might have ruined his new friendship before the train ride was even over. Far from looking offended, however, Scorpius was watching him with interest, and seemed to be thinking very deeply about something.

'Merlin was in Slytherin,' he said eventually, 'He arguably did more good for the world than any other wizard of his century. While he was alive, it was this amazing golden age. Wizards and muggles lived in peace and even worked together and helped each other. It was only after he died that things started to fall apart. And he developed all these amazing potions and spells that completely changed the way people practiced magic. So many of the basic spells we learn today wouldn't exist if he hadn't—' He stopped and blushed. 'Sorry. I talk a lot sometimes when I get carried away.'

Albus wanted to tell him there was no need to apologise. He felt like he could probably listen to Scorpius talk all day. The way the boy's face lit up when he was enthusiastic, and the way his hands flew around, drawing pictures in the air, made it seem as though he could probably make one of Uncle Percy's speeches on broomstick regulations sound exciting.

'You'll definitely be in Slytherin, I suppose,' Rose said to Scorpius.

'I dunno,' Scorpius shrugged, 'I mean, every Malfoy for as long as history remembers has been in Slytherin.' He grinned wickedly. 'It would be pretty cool to break tradition.'

* * *

'This is their year! You'll see – the Chudley Cannons are making a comeback.' Albus propped his feet up on the seat next to Scorpius and popped a Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Bean confidently in his mouth. A moment later he made a face of disgust and spat it out. 'Ugh. Earwax.'

'You're delusional,' Rose said, 'You and Dad say this every year and you're always wrong.'

'Well I've got a good feeling about this year.'

Scorpius rolled his eyes. His new friends had been arguing about Quidditch for almost an hour now. Rose was an expert on strategy, and could recite tactics and probabilities off the top of her head, but Albus' dogged loyalty to his favourite team was unquenchable. He'd never met people who could argue so passionately about sport before. His dad liked taking him to Quidditch matches, but didn't support a particular team, and his mum was a Holyhead Harpies fan, but didn't have the same level of obsession as the entire Weasley-Potter clan appeared to.

Scorpius couldn't quite believe he'd managed to make friends so quickly. His dad had told him all about his less than heroic role in the war, and had warned Scorpius that he might face a lot of prejudice for being a Malfoy. Remembering the glares and snide remarks they often endured when they went to Diagon Alley, Scorpius had been dreading months of being alone and friendless at Hogwarts before he might finally be able to prove he was more than just the son of an ex-Death Eater. And yet here he was, spending the train ride with a Potter and a Weasley, two of the people he'd thought were most likely to hate him.

Would it last though? What if they ended up in different houses? Was he being really naïve to think that he might not be in Slytherin? From what his dad had told him, people from the other houses weren't ever friends with people from Slytherin. It just didn't happen. He might only have known them for a few hours, but the idea of not being friends with Rose and Albus anymore made him sad. Rose was one of the smartest, funniest people he'd ever met and Albus seemed like exactly the kind of person he'd want to be best friends with. Surely they were too nice to ditch him the moment they were sorted into Gryffindor and he ended up in Slytherin?

No. He wasn't leaving something like this up to chance. He _would_ be in some house other than Slytherin, even if he had to argue with the Sorting Hat all night. Albus and Rose were his friends, and he wasn't going to let some outdated sorting system take them away from him.

'Scorpius? You alright?'

Scorpius turned to see that Al was watching him with concern.

'Fine. Just got lost in my own thoughts I guess.' He glanced at Rose, who had her nose buried in a copy of the Quibbler. Flashing letters on the cover declared that lucky readers could enter to win a trip to India to the home of the very first Wrackspurts.

'Does your mum know you still subscribe to that?' Albus asked. 'You know she always says it's a load of garbage.'

'Luna's been sending me a free copy every month since I helped her with her research for that article on Dabberblimp sightings in Britain.'

'Dabberblimps? Seriously Rose?'

Rose glared at him. 'I'll have you know there's a considerable amount of evidence in favour of their existence. Just because most people are too narrow-minded to accept anything that's not in a textbook or right in front of them doesn't mean—'

'Alright, alright,' Albus held his hands up in mock surrender, 'Forget I said anything.' He rolled his eyes at Scorpius and lowered his voice. 'Mental, that one. Seriously. You'd better escape while you still can.'

'I heard that,' Rose said. 'But don't worry, I can handle your scepticism. Every misunderstood genius has their critics. One day you'll eat your words.'

'Pretty sure misunderstood is just a nice word for crazy,' Albus muttered, and Scorpius let out a snort of laughter, which he quickly stifled under Rose's stern gaze.

'Look, we're almost there!' he said to distract her, pointing out the window. They all peered through the darkness, bickering forgotten in their shared excitement as they spotted the lights of Hogsmeade Station in the distance. As soon as the train came to a halt they hurried out of the compartment, joining the crush of students flowing out onto the platform. Just as he was worried he might lose his new friends in the crowd, Scorpius felt Albus grab his hand. Albus' other hand was being gripped tightly by Rose, who steered them through the throng towards an enormous, hairy man Scorpius was sure from his dad's stories must be Rubeus Hagrid.

Before long the last of the older students were trickling off the platform and a small group of first years was gathered around Hagrid, who did a quick head count before leading them away. Scorpius realised that he, Albus and Rose were still holding hands, but didn't suggest letting go. This was all very overwhelming, and there was something reassuring about having someone else's hand in his own. When they reached the edge of the lake, they finally let go to clamber into a boat together, along with a tall, dark skinned girl who introduced herself as Suzanna Thomas. She was very friendly towards Rose and Albus, but when Scorpius introduced himself she gave him a cold stare and moved to sit at the other end of the boat. Scorpius' heart plummeted. Rose smiled sympathetically and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

'Look!' Albus said excitedly, oblivious to the entire exchange, 'I can see Hogwarts!'

The castle loomed into view above them. Lights from the windows sparkled coldly against the dark sky and Scorpius shivered and felt very small. He thought longingly of his own bed in back in his house in London, where his dad would sit and tell him bedtime stories, in spite of his protestations that he was too old. He wondered what his parents were doing right now.

'It's so huge!' Albus breathed. He turned to face Scorpius and Rose and his eyes blazed with an enthusiasm that seemed to warm Scorpius right down to his toes. He could do this. This was Hogwarts! He'd been excited about this for as long as he could remember. He wasn't going to ruin it by crying over missing his parents like some little kid.

Albus grabbed both of their hands again once they got out of the boats, and Scorpius thought maybe he wasn't the only person who was a bit nervous.

The large front doors were opened by a kind-looking wizard in slightly grubby robes and large, muddy boots. He smiled warmly at them.

'Hi, Neville!' Rose said brightly.

'Hello, Rose, Albus.' He gestured them all to follow him inside. 'I'm Professor Longbottom and I'm the Head of Gryffindor House. Your Sorting will take place soon, but in the meantime I'll ask you to wait through here.' He led them into a small chamber, just off the Entrance Hall.

Neville Longbottom. So this was one of the great war heroes Scorpius had read and heard so much about. He tried to reconcile this kindly-looking man with gentle, blue eyes and a smear of dirt on his cheek to his image of the fierce Gryffindor warrior who had sliced off the head of Voldemort's snake. Something didn't quite add up.

Professor Longbottom quickly summarised the different Houses and the system of points that could be awarded or deducted.

'Don't worry too much about your Sorting,' he said, glancing around at their nervous faces, 'It's nothing scary. You just pop on a hat and it will decide where you belong. Easy!'

 _Easy for him to say_ , Scorpius thought bitterly. _He_ wasn't about to try and defy a thousand years' worth of Malfoy history. He looked at Rose. She was fiddling with her wand, spinning it round and round in her hands, but her face was calm. Albus was biting his lip. Scorpius tried to think of something to say to break the anxious silence, but his mind came up blank.

Before long they trooped into the enormous Great Hall, and Scorpius found himself momentarily distracted from his upcoming doom as he stared in awe at the incredible ceiling. Living in London, he didn't get to see the stars properly very often. Sometimes when they visited his grandparents at Malfoy Manor, he and his mum would lie outside on the lawn in the evening and she would point out the different constellations until his dad came out to find them cold and shivering and dragged them inside to warm up by the fire.

Even that could not have prepared him for this, however. He hadn't known so many stars even _existed_. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and he stared upwards and forgot to walk, until Rose bumped into him from behind and hissed at him to keep his eyes ahead and look where he was going. The little reminder of his mum made her feel not quite so far away, and gave him the courage to march up to the front of the Hall, ignoring all the eyes on him.

After a song from the Sorting Hat, which Scorpius was too nervous to hear a word of, Professor Longbottom began to call out names, in alphabetical order. Before long—

'Granger-Weasley, Rose!'

Rose strode confidently to the stool and sat down. Just before the hat was placed on her head, she caught Scorpius' eye and he gave her a thumbs up. She smiled weakly, then closed her eyes.

There was a second of silence, then the hat yelled 'RAVENCLAW!' Rose removed the hat from her head, handed it to Professor Longbottom, who said something quietly to her, and made her way to the Ravenclaw table. A couple of other students who had already been sorted moved up to make room for her, and an older, red-haired student leaned over to congratulate her. Her cousin Fred, maybe?

It suddenly occurred to Scorpius that he was going to be sorted before Albus. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He doubted he'd make it into Ravenclaw, so getting into the same house as Albus was his best chance of getting to stay friends with them.

'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

Scorpius looked up, startled. How had his turn come round so quickly? Albus gave him a quick smile and nudged him in the direction of the stool. Scorpius focused very hard on not tripping as he walked up to the front. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he was sure there had been an outbreak of muttering when his name was called. The faces gazing up at him definitely didn't look as friendly as they had earlier. He sat down, screwed his eyes shut, and felt the Sorting Hat slip down over his ears.

 _Hmmm … another Malfoy—'_ the Hat began.

 _No!_ Scorpius thought fiercely. _Don't you dare put me in Slytherin just because I'm a Malfoy. You've got no right to judge me just on my name. I've got as much right as anyone else to have the chance to go somewhere else._

 _Well,_ said the Hat, and Scorpius thought it sounded amused. Could a hat be amused? _There's only one thing to be done with someone who's got the nerve to think they can tell me how to do my job, and to try and change centuries of tradition._

Scorpius' heart sank.

 _Has to be …_ 'GRYFFINDOR!'


	2. Chapter 2

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Albus watched Scorpius' face go from complete shock to splitting into a huge grin as he took in what the Sorting Hat had said. He jumped up from the stool, then his face fell as he realised no one was applauding. The Hall had descended into complete silence. Most students simply looked surprised or bemused, but some of the Gryffindors looked outright mutinous. Scorpius hesitated, so dejected that Albus wanted to run over and give him a hug.

Then James gave a huge cheer and stood up, clapping loudly. After a moment, the rest of Gryffindor followed his lead, then the rest of the school. Albus threw his brother a grateful smile. They might not get on much of the time, but James was a great guy. The grin crept back onto Scorpius' face and he made his way over to the Gryffindor table. If he noticed that many of his housemates hadn't joined in the applause and were giving him rather dirty looks then he didn't show it as he slid in next to James, who threw an arm round his shoulders and said something that made him laugh.

As the next few students were called up to be sorted, Albus began to feel sick. Scorpius was in Gryffindor now. That made it even more important for him to be there too. He couldn't let down his family _and_ his new friend.

But what about those things Scorpius had said about Merlin? Sure, there had been a lot of great witches and wizards in Gryffindor, but if he was in Slytherin he'd be following in the footsteps of the greatest wizard of all time.

… _if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin …_

Gryffindor or Slytherin. Slytherin or Gryffindor? His friend and family or the chance to be different? Bravery or greatness? Except, wouldn't he have to be pretty brave to choose Slytherin when everyone expected him to be a Gryffindor? So if he chose Slytherin, would that prove that he should actually be in Gryffindor? Would his parents really not mind, or was Dad just saying that to make him feel better? When Dad told him he could choose, was that a hint that he should choose Gryffindor? What about Scorpius? Why had he defended Slytherin so fiercely if he didn't actually want to go there? Did he think Albus should be in Slytherin? Would James ever talk to him again if he was? Did he care? What would Rose —

'Potter, Albus.'

Albus couldn't breathe. Somehow, he managed to walk over to the stool. When people talked about the Sorting, why did they never mention how unnerving it was to have so many people watching you? This was happening too fast; he hadn't decided what to ask for yet. What if he didn't get to choose after all? Maybe that only happened when you were good enough to be in more than one house. Maybe he wasn't brave _or_ great. What if he wasn't good enough for any of the houses, and the Sorting Hat told him just to—

 _Nervous, are we?_

Albus jumped slightly as a small voice spoke in his ear. He realised that Neville had put the Hat on his head. In his panic, his mind was now completely blank, and he couldn't remember any of his reasons for wanting to be in either house. Maybe he should be in Hufflepuff instead? They all seemed nice.

The Hat chuckled.

 _They're very nice, but you're certainly not Hufflepuff material._

 _I'm not nice?_ Albus thought, suddenly affronted. The Hat chuckled again.

 _You're very like your father, you know,_ it told him.

 _I suppose you'll put me in Gryffindor then._ Albus sighed, resigned, and suddenly realised he felt disappointed.

 _Why would I do that?_

 _Well, my dad was in Gryffindor._

 _Indeed. But you're_ not _your father. Our choices make us who we are, and I stand by what I said to him when he sat where you're sitting now. He made a great Gryffindor, but he could have made an equally great… 'SLYTHERIN!'_

It took Albus a few moments to realise that the last word had been shouted aloud. His mind was reeling with everything he'd just heard. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him, when Dad had talked about getting to choose, that it had been Slytherin that the Hat had considered putting him in. It was almost impossible to imagine Dad being a Slytherin; he was like the ultimate Gryffindor. Except—

Neville pulled the Sorting Hat off Albus' head and nudged him in the direction of the Slytherin table, who were all cheering loudly. There was a smattering of applause from the rest of the school, but most of them looked fairly bemused, like they couldn't quite believe what had just happened. Albus didn't dare to look at James. He figured that if his brother hated him now, he'd rather put off knowing about it for as long as possible. He glanced at Rose as he made his way past the Ravenclaw table. She gave him an encouraging smile. Well, at least he knew there was one person who didn't hate him for being sorted into Slytherin.

Then he focused for the first time on the people he would be living with for the next seven years. He'd always heard Slytherins described as fairly intimidating or malicious. As he walked towards them, however, Albus could see no obvious signs of future dark lords or murdering psychopaths. They looked like a fairly ordinary bunch of people, some smiling welcomingly at him, others talking quietly to their friends, obviously uninterested in the entire proceedings. His fellow first years looked as nervous as any of the other first years. A small girl with a waterfall of dark hair flashed a smile at him and moved over to let him sit down.

'I'm Alexandra Gonzales,' she said quietly, as the applause died down and Neville called the next student up to be Sorted. Albus remembered her Sorting from earlier. The Hat had yelled out Slytherin practically the moment it touched her head.

'I'm Albus Potter,' he whispered back.

'I know.' She flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned back to the front. The last few Sortings passed quickly, and soon 'Zabini, Natalia' was the last first year left at the front. She was sorted into Slytherin and took a seat opposite Albus, as Neville carried the stool and Sorting Hat away, and Professor McGonagall stood up to make a speech. She welcomed them all, briefly ran through the main school rules, then announced the beginning of the feast.

Enormous piles of food appeared in front of them. James always went on and on about how awesome Hogwarts food was (mostly when Dad had tried some new 'experiment' in the kitchen that they were all forced to eat) but Albus found he didn't have much of an appetite. He chose a couple of things at random to put on his plate, then picked at them unenthusiastically. His stomach was churning. He'd thought that once the Sorting was over – one way or the other – he'd stop feeling nervous. Instead it had just got worse. It was suddenly occurring to him that he was on his own here. All his life, he'd been surrounded by family members. They were noisy and annoying and almost too numerous to keep track of, but at least they were familiar.

He missed his dad.

'If you're gonna puke, don't do it on me.'

Albus looked up from his food. Alexandra was watching him. He forced a smile and tried to look less ill.

'I won't puke. I'm fine.'

'Are you sure?' the Zabini girl asked. Albus couldn't remember her first name. 'You look very pale.'

'I'm fine,' he said, more emphatically this time, and took a large mouthful of chicken to prove it. He swallowed too quickly and choked, and Alexandra whacked him on the back. His cheeks warmed. Could he possibly have made more of an idiot out of himself? What a terrible first impression. Two of his new housemates must already be thinking he was an utter moron.

'Well, you're not so pale now,' Zabini said. Natalia. That was her name, he remembered. She was looking at him very solemnly, then she looked at Alexandra and they both started giggling. Albus considered being offended, before bursting out laughing too. Suddenly, it all seemed so ridiculous.

'Did you see all their faces, earlier, when the Hat put you in Slytherin?' Alexandra asked.

'Albus Potter, the Slytherin.' Natalia smirked. 'What's the great Harry Potter going to think?'

A feeling of dread settled in the pit of Albus' stomach.

'I don't know,' he said quietly. 'I really don't know.'

* * *

'What subject are you most looking forward to?'

Rose considered the question carefully. There was just so much she was excited about that it was hard to choose. Like the rest of her cousins, she'd been taught to read and write by her grandparents and her Aunt Fleur, which meant she was also fluent in French. At her mum's insistence, she'd spent a year at a muggle primary school when she was eight, but had eventually had to drop out when her accidental magic became too hard to control. After that, her education had taken place entirely through her own reading, and the endless questions she asked her parents, aunts, uncles and older cousins, as well as the occasional lesson from Luna, which her mum strongly disapproved of. She couldn't wait to learn magic from real teachers, and to actually be allowed to try out the spells and potions she'd read so much about.

'I don't really know,' she admitted, smiling at the dark-haired boy who'd asked. He'd introduced himself when she sat down as Neil, a second-year student.

'Personally, I'm very fond of Potions,' he told her, 'Of course, Transfiguration is also an excellent subject, but the professor is very tough on those who don't take the subject seriously. Make sure you don't—'

'Neil,' Rose's cousin Fred said gently, 'She only just got here. No need to bombard her with instructions.' He turned to Rose. 'Your classes will start off very basic, until you get the hang of things here. You'll have plenty of time to figure out what your favourite subjects are.'

Rose smiled gratefully at him. She'd always liked Fred. He was a few years older than her, and by far the quietest member of the family, always wandering around with his nose in a book, calmly dodging the fireworks, runaway snitches and random explosions that were an almost permanent presence in his house. He always seemed utterly unperturbed by anything. Rose supposed that it would take a lot to disconcert someone who'd grown up with a father who ran a joke shop, a mother who was captain of a professional Quidditch team and a sister who pretty much never stopped talking.

She glanced over at Albus. She'd been surprised, like everyone else, when he was sorted into Slytherin, but knew that if the Hat had chosen to put him there then there must be a good reason for it. She couldn't help but worry about him, though. At least she had Fred to keep an eye on her here in Ravenclaw. She couldn't imagine being in a different house all by herself. Especially not Slytherin. In theory she knew that Slytherins weren't all evil and terrible, and that it was stupid to buy into those kinds of stereotypes. But somehow there was still something more intimidating about the students on that table.

Albus seemed alright, though. A very pretty girl with dark hair was laughing and tossing chips at him, which he was attempting to catch in his mouth. Across the table from them, another girl was shaking her head at them and attempting to hide an amused smile.

Rose sighed. He seemed to have made friends very quickly. She was happy for him – of course she was – but she couldn't help being jealous. Al had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. She hadn't thought he would replace her _quite_ so quickly.

She glanced around at her fellow Ravenclaws. There were quiet conversations going on among some of the older students, but nothing as lively as on the other tables. Were Ravenclaws always so serious? When the Hat had told her she belonged in Ravenclaw, she hadn't been very surprised. She'd always loved to learn – far more than most of her cousins – and she had a knack for puzzles and problem-solving. She'd always felt a little left out in her rowdy, competitive, Gryffindor family.

But she didn't want to spend the whole of her seven years here just studying and being serious all the time. She wanted to have _some_ fun.

Rose sighed again. Maybe Ravenclaw wasn't as perfect for her as she'd thought.

* * *

'Are you any good at Quidditch?' James asked, leaning across to steal a piece of chicken from Scorpius' plate.

Scorpius shrugged.

'I don't know how good I am compared to other people,' he said, 'My dad taught me how to fly, and I can catch a snitch pretty fast, but I've never played in a proper match.'

'I'm trying out for the team this year. You should join me.'

'But first years never get on the team.'

'My dad did.'

Scorpius rolled his eyes. 'Your dad also defeated the greatest dark wizard of all time. I don't think that's a fair comparison.'

James laughed. 'You're right, you probably won't get picked this year. I probably won't either, because I'm only a second year. But the key is _enthusiasm_. Try out every year, show the older players that you're committed, and in a couple of years you'll be first on the captain's list when they're looking for new players.'

'I guess.' Scorpius was unconvinced. Trying out for the Quidditch team in first year sounded more like arrogance than enthusiasm to him.

'Look,' James leant closer and lowered his voice, 'I'll be honest with you, Scorpius. A lot of people in Gryffindor aren't gonna like you for a while. It's not fair, but lots of people are idiots. Best way to get Gryffindors to like you is to try out for the Quidditch team, even if you don't get in.'

Scorpius glanced down the table. He certainly wasn't getting a lot of friendly looks. He'd thought his biggest problem would be getting into Gryffindor in the first place. It hadn't occurred to him that he would also have to earn his place once he got here. And Albus and Rose weren't even here to help him out. All that worrying about getting into Gryffindor to be with Albus, and then Albus had gone and been sorted into Slytherin. Looking over at Albus, who was laughing with two pretty girls, and then Rose, who was deep in conversation with the boy who was probably her cousin, Scorpius couldn't help but wonder if he'd been sorted into the wrong house. Was it really worth breaking tradition and being bold and brave if it also meant being alone and miserable?

No. He wasn't going to think like that. This was just one more challenge. He was going to prove he had as much right to be in Gryffindor as anyone else, no matter what his surname was, and he was going to _make_ the other Gryffindors like him, if it was the last thing he did.


	3. Chapter 3

'First years, follow me, please.'

Scorpius began to move towards the responsible-looking prefect who was gesturing to them, but James grinned and slung an arm over his shoulders.

'I'll look after Scorpy, Danielle,' he said.

'First years are supposed to come with the prefects,' she said sternly.

'I promise I won't lose him,' James said, then dragged Scorpius towards the doors before Danielle could say anything. Scorpius caught her eye as he was pulled away and shrugged apologetically. She rolled her eyes, apparently used to dealing with James.

'Maybe I should go with the others,' Scorpius tried to protest, 'I mean, if that's the rules…'

'Nah,' James said dismissively, 'Danielle will take you the long route and tell you all sorts of boring stuff about the history of the castle or whatever. _I'm_ going to show you the shortcuts.'

'There are shortcuts?' Scorpius was torn between apprehension about all the rule-breaking James seemed likely to drag him into and excitement that he was going to find out all sorts of secrets about the castle.

'Of course there are shortcuts! This is Hogwarts!' They pushed through the crowd out into the Entrance Hall, where they passed Albus, who was talking to one of the Slytherin prefects. When he saw them, Albus raised a hand in greeting, but James pushed past him without a word.

'I've always wanted to show my little brother round the castle,' he said loudly to Scorpius, 'I guess since my real little brother turned out to be a treacherous snake, you'll just have to take his place.'

Scorpius looked back at Albus, whose face had fallen. He wanted to go back and tell him that he was sure James was just joking, but before he knew what was happening, James had pulled him through what looked like a solid wall into what must be a secret passageway. Then all his concentration had to be focused on trying to keep track of where they were going. Left, right, left, left, up a flight of stairs, through a door that apparently only existed in September and January, right, left, more stairs… there was no way he was going to remember all this.

'I'm going to get so lost,' he said.

James laughed. 'Don't worry,' he said, 'Everyone gets lost at first. Try and make sure you stick with the other first years when you're walking between classes, that way if you get lost then you're all together, and if a whole class don't show up then the teacher will come looking for you. Never ask directions from Peeves – he's the poltergeist – but most of the other ghosts are pretty helpful. The paintings are a bit hit or miss – just make sure you never end up talking to Sir Cadogan. If you've got absolutely no idea where you are then it's best to just head downwards; somehow you always end up in the Entrance Hall eventually, and there's always a prefect or two hanging around there.'

'I feel like I should be writing all this down,' Scorpius said, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

'You'll be fine,' James said, smiling reassuringly as he held back a curtain for Scorpius to step through into the corridor on the other side, 'Hogwarts is daunting at first, but you'll get used to it much faster than you expect.'

They rounded a corner and found themselves standing in front of a large portrait of a fat, dark-haired woman in a silk dress. She glanced down imperiously at them.

'Password?' she asked.

'Felix Felicis!' James proclaimed. The Fat Lady nodded and her portrait swung forwards to reveal an entrance. The two boys clambered through, and Scorpius gazed around at the place that was to be his home for the next year. It was warm and friendly-looking. A fire crackled in the large fireplace, and a few small groups of students sat on sofas and armchairs, talking and laughing, having somehow managed to get here first in spite of James' shortcuts.

'Password changes every few weeks or so,' James was telling him, 'There's normally an announcement on the noticeboard, but if you're not sure you can ask a prefect. Boys dormitories are up here, girls over there. Boys can't get up the girls' staircase, so don't ever try because it's embarrassing. If you're —' He broke off. 'Scorpius? Are you okay?'

Scorpius took a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. He was away from his home and his parents. He was in Gryffindor, which nobody had expected, and he had no idea how his dad was going to react to that. He didn't even want to think about how he was going to find his way to class and keep up with his lessons and try out for Quidditch and somehow persuade his fellow Gryffindors to like him.

But he was here. He was finally at Hogwarts, and he'd somehow managed to find himself an honorary big brother who never seemed to stop talking, and the moment he'd stepped into this common room everything had suddenly felt like it was going to be okay. He was in the right place.

'I'm fine,' he told James, giving him a wide smile to prove it, 'I'm fantastic, actually.'

* * *

Treacherous snake.

Well, that made it very clear how James felt about his Sorting. Albus fought back the tears that prickled just behind his eyes and tried to focus on what the prefect was telling him about passwords.

'…and don't worry if you forget it. Someone's bound to come along soon enough and let you in. Just don't get caught out after curfew – the professors are pretty strict about that, especially with first years.' He raised his voice. 'Okay, Slytherin first years, follow me this way.'

They trailed obediently after him. Albus tried to pay attention to where they were going, but Alexandra and Natalia were chattering loudly beside him, deep in a fierce debate over which of them would be most likely to make the Slytherin Quidditch team.

'You're too small,' Natalia was saying, 'You'd get crushed.'

'Seekers are supposed to be small,' Alexandra replied, 'And my mum's been playing Quidditch with me since I was seven. I've had way more practice than you.'

'Practice only gets you so far,' Natalia said loftily, 'I've got Quidditch in my blood. My great uncle played Chaser for England.'

'You guys do realise you're only first years, right?' Albus pointed out.

Both girls turned and glared at him.

'Alright, sorry, never mind,' he raised his hands in mock surrender, 'I was just saying.'

He was saved from their wrath but the arrival of the group at an apparently blank stone wall.

'Merlin,' said the prefect, causing an entrance to open in the wall. They all filed inside and stood in a little huddle in the centre of the common room. The prefect was talking – saying something about dormitories and quiet study hours – but Albus wasn't really listening. He was too captivated by the incredible room he was standing in. It was cool and elegant, and had the air of being a place where important things happened. Water swelled gently against the outside of the large, arched windows, and was that a _mermaid_ peering in through the glass? She was gone before Albus could be sure, but he felt a little thrill of excitement.

Natalia and Alexandra waved at him as they were led off towards the girls' dormitory. This left him alone with the other boys, two of whom were eying him suspiciously, while the other three talked quietly together, apparently oblivious to his existence. Albus wasn't too concerned. He'd win them over eventually. Or not. He'd always got on better with girls than boys anyway, and Natalia and Alexandra seemed great. Scorpius had been the first boy his age he'd made such an immediate connection with.

He wondered how Scorpius was doing up in Gryffindor tower. It was funny, really, when you thought about it, how he and Scorpius had taken each other's places. He wondered if he would have been happier up there in noisy, friendly Gryffindor, surrounded by his family, with James to keep an eye on him. And tease him. And bug him constantly. Yeah … maybe not.

What about Scorpius? Was he enjoying his new home, or was he thinking longingly of the peace and quiet of Slytherin?

He was sure Rose would be happy in Ravenclaw. She'd always enjoyed a challenge. He just hoped he'd get to have some classes with her. They'd been best friends for as long as he could remember, and they'd been talking about going to Hogwarts together for almost as long.

The dormitory was just as grand as the common room, with enormous four-poster beds and green silk sheets. Albus grabbed a bed next to a window. Suddenly exhausted, he decided to put off unpacking until tomorrow. Ignoring his uncommunicative roommates, he clambered into bed, drew the curtains and drifted off to sleep, soothed by the gentle sound of waves lapping against the window outside.

* * *

'What can be measured but not seen?'

'Anyone like to take a guess?' The Ravenclaw prefect looked round at the first years encouragingly. Rose considered the question carefully. Luna asked her riddles a lot. She said they were important for teaching people to think 'with their whole brains, not just in straight lines'. It was one of the few things she and Rose's mum agreed on, actually. She didn't think she'd heard this one before, but she was sure she could figure it out if she just—

'Time?' offered the boy next to her.

'Excellent,' replied the eagle knocker, and the door swung open. Rose felt a flash of competitiveness, something she wasn't used to. Among her cousins, she was almost always the smartest. Now that she was in Ravenclaw, she'd have to stop being so complacent and actually make an effort. She grinned. This was going to be fun.

Inside, the common room was large and airy. The whole room seemed to sparkle with stars, and the walls were lined with books. Rose had already spotted at least ten little nooks and corners which she was sure would be perfect for curling up in with a good book. Next to the fireplace, a group of fourth or fifth years were gathered around a large piece of parchment, arguing fervently. In an armchair near them, a girl with bright blue hair was reading a book almost as large as herself. On the other side of the common room, a boy sat cross-legged in the air, three feet above the ground, a flock of tiny, golden butterflies fluttering around his head.

Rose caught the eye of the boy who had answered the riddle.

'This is awesome!' he said, smiling widely. Rose nodded, unsure what she could say that would possibly sum up everything she was feeling right now.

Ten minutes later, she was in her new dormitory, introducing herself to her new roommates. She found herself forgetting their names the moment they said them, but she was sure they'd have plenty of time to get to know one another in the next few days. They all seemed nice, anyway. It was going to be a little strange sharing a room with four other girls. She'd always had her own room at home, but she found she didn't really mind. It was easier to ignore the homesickness that was threatening to creep up on her when there were other people around.

The dormitory fell silent all too quickly, however, as the other girls went to sleep, and Rose found herself lying awake in the dark, listening to the wind whistle past the windows. She wondered whether Hugo was asleep yet, and what her parents were doing right now. Normally she and her mum would sit up late together reading, often getting so caught up in their books that they fell asleep on the sofa and her dad had to carry them to their beds.

She'd write to them first thing in the morning, she decided. She wondered what they'd think of her sorting. She was sure they wouldn't really mind that she wasn't in Gryffindor. Especially not when her news was overshadowed by everyone finding out that Albus was in Slytherin. That was certainly going to be a shock to a lot of people.

Smiling softly at the thought of her dad's face when Uncle Harry told him that his nephew was a snake, Rose snuggled deeper into her duvet and willed sleep to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Left here. Right at the suit of armour and then the second left. Or was it the third? There was supposed to be a flight of stairs around here somewhere. Unless he'd taken the wrong turning a few minutes ago, when he hadn't been able to remember whether it was left or right at the giant painting of the goblins. Wait! That was the portrait of Nicholas Flamel. James had definitely mentioned that, so he must be on the right track. Now if he could just remember where the stairs were meant to be…

Scorpius sighed. Maybe he should have taken James up on his offer to walk him to the Owlery to send his letter. He'd been convinced that this was something he wanted to do by himself, but that didn't really mean anything if he ended up lost in some far-off wing of the castle, wandering fruitlessly in circles for all eternity. Maybe he should give up and head back downstairs to find James.

No! That was not the right attitude to have. He'd been at Hogwarts for a whole week now. He could find his way from the Great Hall to the Gryffindor Common Room without assistance, and he was starting to get the hang of knowing where his classes were. If he didn't even have the determination necessary to find the Owlery on his own, there was no way he'd have the courage to actually tie the letter to an owl and send it off.

He could do this. He must be almost there by now. He just had to continue down this corridor, take a left here and … aha! Here were the stairs.

As he neared the top of the staircase, he began to climb more and more slowly. The hand holding the letter to his parents suddenly felt very heavy. He'd written and re-written this letter more times than he could count, and this was the final product. Maybe it wasn't quite right though? He was sure he could have worded certain parts better. Maybe he should go back to his dormitory and look over it one more time…

'Are you okay?'

Scorpius looked up to realise that he'd reached the Owlery, and that Albus Potter was watching him with concern in his eyes. Albus had very green eyes.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' he replied, doing his best to sound convincing.

'Writing to your parents?' Albus asked.

'Yeah.' Scorpius sighed. 'I'm kind of nervous,' he admitted.

Albus showed Scorpius the letter in his own hand with a rueful grin. 'I've been standing here for half an hour trying to make myself send it. I mean, in theory I know my parents aren't going to disown me for being in Slytherin or anything stupid like that but…' He tailed off and walked over to the window.

Scorpius let out a burst of laughter, and Albus turned around to look at him, startled.

'What's funny?'

'It's just so ridiculous, isn't it? Here's me worrying about how to tell my parents I'm not in Slytherin, and you've got the opposite problem.'

The corner of Albus' mouth turned up. 'Life would definitely be a lot easier if we could just swap places.' He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it even messier than it had been before. Then the smile slipped away again, and Scorpius realised there were tears sparkling in his eyes.

'Don't worry,' he said, taking a step towards Albus, not sure how to comfort him, 'I'm sure your parents will be fine with it.'

'I'm sorry,' Albus said, his voice catching slightly, 'This is … it's so stupid.'

'It's not stupid!' Scorpius said emphatically, pulling the other boy into a hug. Albus seemed surprised for a moment, then hugged him back.

'It's not really my parents,' Albus said, 'Even if they're a bit disappointed, I know they won't be angry. I was just really looking forward to being at Hogwarts with James and all my cousins, and now James hates me.'

'James doesn't hate you.'

'Yes he does. You don't have to deny it just to be nice. I heard what he said about me after the Sorting.'

'That was a joke, Albus. James doesn't hate you.'

'Whatever.' Albus shrugged, obviously not convinced.

Scorpius sighed and walked through the owls, trying to find one that looked friendly.

'Why does everyone care so much?' he wondered aloud, 'I mean they're just houses! The whole thing is so stupid.'

'I agree.'

They were both silent for a few minutes, each studying their letters. Scorpius suddenly realised he didn't feel so bad now he knew someone else was going through the same thing. He could do this.

'If you think about it,' Albus said, 'It's actually pretty badass that you're the first Malfoy to be a Gryffindor.'

Scorpius smiled.

'Well if we're looking at it like that, you being in Slytherin is really cool too. You can be like Merlin and change the Wizarding World with whatever incredible stuff you end up doing.'

Albus took a deep breath and walked over to a snowy owl by the window.

'Come on,' he said, 'If a Slytherin like me can send mine then a brave Gryffindor like you can definitely do it.'

'Well when you put it like that…' Scorpius selected a small, cheerful-looking owl and attached the letter to its leg. 'Together?'

'Together,' Albus agreed. They exchanged a smile, then let the owls go, watching as they soared off over the grounds until they were out of sight.

They made their way back downstairs, chatting easily about their classes and their new roommates and the difficulty of navigating moving staircases and trick steps. Albus told him that the other boys in his dormitory had been fairly cold so far, but that he'd made friends with two girls, Natalia and Alexandra, who sounded nice. Scorpius admitted that he didn't really have any friends in his own year yet.

'James has been cool, but it's a bit weird hanging out with him and his second-year friends all the time. Apparently being a Malfoy doesn't really make people like you, or at least not in Gryffindor. I might just have to get used to not having any friends here.'

'That's stupid!' Albus said. 'Anyone who won't spend time getting to know you just because you're a Malfoy doesn't _deserve_ to be friends with you. Anyway, I'm your friend, and so is Rose.'

'Thanks. Do you think—'

'Albus!' A tall, blonde girl was walking purposefully towards them, 'Thank Merlin you're back. Alexandra stole a potion out of this fourth-year's bag which we _thought_ was just a hair colour-changing potion but apparently it wasn't so now Dylan's got boils all over his face and he can't _prove_ that it was us who spiked his drink but he suspects so we need you to come and give us an alibi.'

Ignoring Scorpius completely, she grabbed Albus' arm and began to drag him away. Albus smiled apologetically over his shoulder.

'Sorry, Scorp,' he called, 'I'll talk to you later, okay?'

Scorpius waved and forced a smile, then turned away and began to make his way up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room. He remembered his determination on the train that he was going to be friends with Rose and Albus, no matter what happened in the Sorting. That had been all very well when he'd thought _he_ was the one in danger of ending up in Slytherin, but somehow everything had got turned around and now they were all in different houses, and the idea that they could be friends seemed naïve and silly. He'd been in classes with both of them, but the different houses always seemed to sit on opposite sides of the classroom, with a clear divide down the middle that he wasn't sure he was brave enough to cross. It had been nice of Albus to say that they were friends, but the truth was that he had Alexandra and Natalia, and the others would probably warm up to him eventually. And Rose always seemed to be surrounded by friends; every time Scorpius saw her she was deep in conversation with someone new. It was just him who was so pathetic and friendless that James had to hang out with him out of pity.

'Watch where you're going, Malfoy!'

Scorpius felt someone slam into him, and realised he'd been so deep in his own thoughts he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going, and had managed to walk into a group of Gryffindor third-years. He tried to carry on past, but heard one of them mutter something, then felt his legs lock together, causing him to topple to the ground. They all laughed, and one of them called something about Death Eaters not being welcome in Gryffindor, then they ran off.

Scorpius felt tears spring to his eyes, but forced them back. The only thing more humiliating than being sprawled on the floor with his legs stuck together would be if he also started crying. He pushed himself up so that he was sitting in a slightly more dignified position, his back against the wall. He considered his options. Either he could try and crawl or hop all the way back to the common room to find James, or he could stay here and hope that someone came along who didn't completely despise him. Staying put seemed like the slightly less embarrassing option.

He'd couldn't believe what a nightmare Hogwarts was becoming. All those years his parents had told such wonderful stories about their time at school, or at least the earlier years, and he'd looked forward to it so much. He'd been prepared for people ignoring him and not wanting to be friends with him at first, but he hadn't expected them to actually hate him so much. Maybe it wasn't too late to write to his parents and ask to be home-schooled? Or maybe they could send him abroad. His French was pretty good, and Beauxbatons had always sounded like a good school.

'Scorpius?'

Scorpius looked up. Professor Longbottom was walking down the corridor. He sighed with relief. Of everyone who could have found him, this was definitely one of the better options. Professor Longbottom always seemed nice, and very fair.

'You should probably get back to your common room, Scorpius,' Professor Longbottom said, 'Sitting in the corridors isn't really encouraged.'

'Actually I can't, professor,' Scorpius said, looking at his legs. Professor Longbottom looked puzzled for a moment, then nodded knowingly.

'Ah, the Leg-Locker Curse, of course,' he said, 'I've had personal experience with that one a few times.'

He flicked his wand to counter the curse, then offered Scorpius a hand and pulled him to his feet.

'Thanks.'

'Not a problem. Care to tell me who was responsible? Hogwarts has very strict rules about bullying.'

'Oh no, it was just a friendly prank.' Scorpius forced a smile. Professor Longbottom didn't look convinced, but didn't push it. Scorpius was relieved. He knew running to tell a teacher would just push his popularity even lower, if that was possible.

'Well, perhaps I'll walk you back to the Common Room, just so we avoid any more _pranks._ Would that be alright?'

'Of course, sir.'

Professor Longbottom didn't say anything else about the curse or the bullies as they walked. Instead he simply asked Scorpius questions about his classes, and how he was finding them so far. The conversation quickly moved to Herbology, and Scorpius was able to be completely honest in his enthusiasm. Herbology was by far his favourite subject so far. He became so caught up in asking questions about Bouncing Bulbs that he didn't notice they'd already reached the corridor with the Fat Lady's portrait. Professor Longbottom smiled.

'It's been a pleasure talking to you, Scorpius,' he said, 'Any time you want to chat – about anything at all – my office door is always open, though you're more likely to find me down in the greenhouses.'

'Thanks, professor.'

As he climbed through the portrait hole, it occurred to Scorpius that he'd just had the longest conversation he'd had with anyone since arriving at Hogwarts. And it had been with a teacher. His life was seriously depressing.

'Hey, Scorpy!' James waved from beside the fireplace, where he was sitting with some of his friends, one of whom seemed to be sporting a large pair of elephant ears. 'My uncle sent these sweets that change random body parts into animal ones. Wanna come try?'

Scorpius considered going over, but then he remembered Albus' face when he'd said that his brother hated him, and felt a surge of anger towards James.

'No,' he said shortly, and headed across the Common Room. Before he could reach the stairs to the boys' dormitories, James had leapt to his feet and bounded over to grab Scorpius' arm.

'Are you okay? Did you find the owlery alright?'

'Yes.' Scorpius shook his arm free.

'What's wrong? Are you mad at me?'

'Just go tell your brother you don't hate him, alright?' Scorpius pushed past James and up the stairs. When he reached the dormitory it was empty, thank Merlin. Drawing the curtains around his bed, he burrowed his face in a pillow and finally let the tears he'd been fighting burst out.


	5. Chapter 5

'I don't care what you say, not being able to prove that something doesn't exist isn't a good enough reason to say that it does.'

'I never said it was. I'm just saying you can't discount something completely until you disprove it without any doubt.'

'By that logic, you could claim that Helga Hufflepuff made a secret chamber under the school where she hid a giant, magical, yellow elephant.'

'Maybe she did.'

'You're ridiculous, Weasley.'

Rose stretched out her legs so her feet were closer to the fire and tucked her wand behind her ear.

'Better than being boring,' she said, 'Pass me that book. I need to check something for my Potions essay.'

Elliot scowled, but passed her the book. 'I'm not boring. I just value common sense. Speaking of which, you really shouldn't keep your wand behind your ear. You're going to end up setting your hair on fire or something.'

'I'll take the risk.' Rose flicked to the page she needed, checked the boiling temperature of dragon blood and noted it down. Then she turned to Elliot, frowning in mock seriousness. 'When you say 'giant' do you mean this hypothetical elephant would be as huge as all elephants are, or that it would be giant even by elephant standards? Of course, the secret chamber could be magically enlarged, but even with magic I imagine it would have been difficult to get a _really_ giant elephant into the castle without the other Founders noticing. A basilisk was one thing, but elephants aren't exactly sneaky and—'

'Rose, in the name of all of Helga's elephants, if you don't shut up and let me write my essay I'm going to throw this book at your head!' Cassiopeia burst out. She had taken over an entire sofa, with books and pieces of parchment sprawled all around her. Her dark, curly hair was twisted into a knot on top of her head, with her wand stuck through it to keep it in place. Rose was pretty sure that was far more of a fire hazard than keeping it behind her ear. She decided not to point it out to Elliot. He and Cassiopeia arguing would just delay her even more in getting her homework finished, and if she got too stressed she really might start throwing things at people's heads.

'How come you're so far behind, anyway, Cassie?' asked Piper, one of Rose and Cassiopeia's roommates. She was lying on the floor between Rose and Elliot, folding spare pieces of parchment into origami flowers. 'You were working for hours last night. I got up to go to the bathroom at like three am and you were still awake and reading. I could see the light between the curtains round your bed. We're only two weeks into first year – it's not like we have _that_ much homework.'

Cassie glanced up distractedly. 'That wasn't homework,' she said, 'I was reading about Japanese runes and their uses in dragon-taming.'

Piper looked at her incredulously. 'Why?'

Cassie shrugged. 'Why not? It was interesting.'

Elliot finished his essay with a final flourish and passed it to Piper to proof-read. In the meantime, he began practicing levitation charms on the little origami flowers, frowning intently as he repeated the incantation over and over, attempting to get the inflection perfect. He was pretty good at it, and soon there were tiny flowers floating around their heads. Rose smiled as she remembered a story her Uncle Harry had told her, about the time her dad had saved her mum's life with that spell. Uncle Harry hated telling stories about the heroic things he'd done, but he'd talk for hours about other people, especially Aunt Ginny, who'd apparently been pretty awesome when she was at Hogwarts. Not that she wasn't still awesome.

Rose's heart swelled with fondness for her new friends. Ravenclaws weren't nearly as boring and stuck-up as she'd been worried they would be. She missed her parents and Hugo, of course, and sometimes she felt a slight pang of envy when she saw all her Gryffindor cousins hanging out together at mealtimes. But she couldn't manage to regret being sorted into Ravenclaw. She felt so at home here already.

She really did need to catch up with Albus, though. She'd been so busy these first couple of weeks with new classes and new friends and a whole library full of books to discover. Between homework and trying not to get lost and focusing on not being shown up by her very clever classmates, she'd only had time to smile and say hi every so often. It was odd how no one even seemed to sit with people from other houses during classes. Maybe that was something that changed further up the school. She'd definitely seen more mixed groups of older students hanging out together. She wasn't going to wait years before she could spend time with her cousin, though. She and Albus had always been best friends, and she wasn't going to let a little thing like different houses change that. Time to take matters into her own hands.

The next morning she was walking to breakfast with Elliot and Piper when she spotted Scorpius at the other side of the Entrance Hall. His bag seemed to have split open, and his books were scattered all over the floor, while he scrambled to pick them up before people trampled on them. Telling her friends to go on, Rose hurried over to help him. Scorpius looked up, startled, then smiled when he realised who she was.

'Rose! Hi!'

'Hey, Scorpius. What happened?' She gestured at the broken bag.

Scorpius shrugged, but didn't explain any further. The pile of books teetered precariously in his arms, so Rose grabbed a couple of them from him.

'Let me help you with those,' she said, 'Come on, we're going to have breakfast at the Slytherin table.'

'What?' Scorpius looked startled. 'Are we even allowed to do that?'

'Yep! I looked up the rules last night. For special feasts everyone has to sit at their own house table, but the rest of the time it's technically optional.'

'So why Slytherin?'

'Well, Gryffindors tend to be very loud all the time, and I can't deal with that first thing in the morning. And I promised I'd help Elliot with something at lunch, so we'll have to sit with Ravenclaw then.'

Without explaining further, she pushed through the crowd at the doors to the Great Hall and headed for the Slytherin table, leaving Scorpius to follow behind. Spotting Albus' messy hair near the bottom of the table, she sat down opposite him, dumping Scorpius' books next to her. A moment later Scorpius arrived, and sat next to Albus, who looked at them both in sleepy confusion.

'Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you guys doing here?'

'Eating breakfast with you,' Rose said brightly. 'Also finding out if you know an older student who can fix Scorpius' bag.'

'Oh no, what happened to your bag?'

'Just broke,' Scorpius said. Albus glanced at Scorpius' practically brand-new bag, and then at Rose, and she knew he wasn't convinced by that either.

'Nat could probably ask her big brother to do it,' he offered, 'She tends to sleep through her first three alarms, but she'll get here eventually, once Alexandra drags her out of bed.'

'That sounds great. Thanks.' Scorpius helped himself to scrambled eggs, then offered them to Rose. 'Did you get a reply from your parents yet?'

Albus picked at a piece of toast. He'd never really been a breakfast person. 'Yeah, I did. They're really proud of me. I don't know what I was so worried about. How about you?'

'I got a letter from my mum yesterday. She said Dad would have written himself but he was too busy painting my bedroom red and gold. Apparently it looks hideous, but Dad's so pleased with himself that she can't bring herself to tell him.'

Albus laughed. 'I guess he agrees with me about you being badass then.'

They exchanged a small, private smile, and Rose suddenly felt left out. How had they managed to have an inside joke already? It hadn't even been Albus' idea to make friends with Scorpius in the first place. If it hadn't been for her deciding they should sit with him on the train, they wouldn't even have talked to each other.

That was stupid, though. Just because she'd had Albus pretty much to herself for most of their lives didn't mean she had to get jealous of him making other friends.

'So what I'm thinking,' she said, 'Is that we should have breakfast at the Slytherin table, because it seems to be the calmest. Then we can have lunch with Ravenclaw and dinner with Gryffindor. That way we get to hang out with each other, but also spend time with our friends from our own houses, and even get to know each other's new friends. Sound good to you guys?'

Albus glanced over at the Gryffindor table, and Rose followed his gaze to where James was standing on his seat and delivering some sort of impassioned speech to a group of his friends. For some reason his ears were bright green and shaped like a cat's.

'I'm not sure I'd really be welcome on the Gryffindor table, what with being a traitorous Slytherin,' Albus said.

'Screw them!' Scorpius said fiercely, then blushed when Rose and Albus looked at him in surprise. 'I just mean – well, I'm not really welcome on the Gryffindor table either if you ask some people, but I _am_ a Gryffindor and if I want you to be there then you're allowed to be there.'

'Hear, hear!' Rose agreed enthusiastically, 'I should go, because I want to ask Professor Nox a few questions before my class starts, but I'll see you both for lunch.'

Rose's last class before lunch was Herbology, which the Ravenclaws had with the Gryffindors. Rose and her friends arrived a few minutes late, because Cassie had stopped to argue with a portrait of a famous astrologist on the second floor about how she disagreed with his theories on the use of astrology in divination. Professor Longbottom gave them a disapproving frown when they rushed in and sat down on the nearest benches, but he didn't say anything. She scanned the greenhouse for Scorpius. He was sitting alone in the corner. Now that she thought about it, he always seemed to be sitting alone in any of the classes they shared. She tried to catch his eye to beckon him to join her, but he was too engrossed in listening to Professor Longbottom.

At the end of the lesson, she practically had to drag him away. By the time he'd finished asking Professor Longbottom questions and agreed to come with her, the rest of the class had left, including Elliot, Cassie and Piper.

They found Albus hovering in the Entrance Hall. He admitted that he hadn't wanted to go and sit at the Ravenclaw table without actually having a Ravenclaw with him.

'I tried to persuade Nat and Alexandra to join us,' he said, 'But they've decided they'll just have breakfast with us and stick with Slytherin table.'

Rose steered the boys over to where her friends were sitting. Piper and Cassie were deep in debate about something related to the Transfiguration essay and barely seemed to notice their arrival, but Elliot looked up in confusion, and then annoyance.

'What are they doing here?'

'Elliot, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Albus. And this is Scorpius.'

Scorpius extended a hand, but Elliot ignored it. 'I know who they are. I want to know what they're doing here at the Ravenclaw table.'

'Eating lunch with me.' Rose gestured for Albus and Scorpius to sit down and began to pile food onto her plate. 'I'm starving. Pass me those cheese sandwiches, Al.'

'I've just remembered I need to go to the library.' Elliot grabbed his bag and stormed away towards the doors, accidentally knocking Piper as he went. She snapped out of her argument and looked around.

'Hi, Rose! Where did Elliot go?'

'I'm not sure.' Rose looked longingly at the plateful of food in front of her, then at Elliot's retreating back. She sighed. 'I'd better go after him and find out.'

'We'll save you some sandwiches!' Albus called after her.

She found Elliot in the Entrance Hall, sitting on a bench. He had taken out his Charms textbook, but hadn't opened it, and was staring moodily into the distance. She sat down next to him.

'I thought you were going to the library?'

'Changed my mind.'

They sat in silence for a few minutes, while Elliot leafed absently through his book, and Rose tried to figure out what was going on. Elliot was a bit obsessed with rules, but it wasn't like having friends in different houses was actually against any rules, even if people didn't seem to do it much in first year. Maybe he was mad at her for something else?

'So what was that about, then?' she asked eventually, when it became clear he wasn't going to explain on his own.

Elliot slammed the book shut and turned to look at her.

'Look,' he said, 'I guess I can see why you would want to go and eat with your cousin sometimes, but I don't see why you have to bring him and that _Malfoy_ kid to our table.' The venom with which he spat the word Malfoy surprised her. Elliot was normally so calm and mild-mannered.

'What? What's wrong with Scorpius?'

'His whole family were Death Eaters!'

'So? He isn't one. He's in Gryffindor. Not that he'd automatically be a Death Eater even if he was in Slytherin.'

'Oh don't be so naïve, Rose,' Elliot gave her a look so condescending that she wanted to punch him in the face, 'Just because he's in Gryffindor doesn't mean he won't turn out exactly like his father. He's not the kind of person you want to be friends with.'

'Actually, right now, _you're_ not the kind of person I want to be friends with.' She pulled out her wand. 'And if you say anything like that about Scorpius again I'll … I'll challenge you to a duel!'

'Oh yeah? You'll shoot sparks at me, then? Or will you blind me with Lumos? I'm _so_ terrified.'

Rose scowled. 'I've invited Scorpius to eat lunch with us every day, and since there are no rules against it you're just going to have to get used to it, or stop hanging out with me at lunch.'

'Maybe I'll just stop hanging out with you altogether.'

'Fine!'

'Fine.'

Elliot shoved his book back in his bag and strode away. Rose glared after him, her face flushed with anger. How dare he? She didn't need a stuck-up, bigoted, annoying idiot like him for a friend anyway!

But beneath her anger, she felt a heavy sadness settle in her stomach. This wasn't what she'd expected Hogwarts to be like at all.


End file.
